Prelude to Destiny

Masako's eyes narrowed as her whole body drew taunt as a spring, standing before the three opponents in front of her. They were all in a large training room set up with practice targets and sparring equipment. All the participants were wearing gambeson tunics and protective headgear and wielding training weapons.

On silent cue, all the combatants charged forward, Masako pivoted to her left, parrying the first strike, sliding her iaito under the first attacker's armpit, delivering what would have been lethal slash had she been using an edged weapon. Behind her, the other two attackers closed in, bringing their blades down on her head and shoulders. Bracing with her support hand against the spine of her blade to provide leverage, she blocked both strikes before dropping low and striking at the second attacker at the knees, followed by an upwards thrust at the final attacker's chest. "Kiai...!"

A moment later, the weapons experts called for a pause as Masako and her training partners recovered themselves, bowed, and returned to their starting positions. There was a brief pause to check everyone's physical conditions. The opponents had some light bruising from the strikes by the dull metal training sword, though clearly nothing compared to what a real sword would have done.

"Well done, Masako, it seems you've nearly regained all of your past life's skills, along with incorporating your current life's training. That's the level of mastery that you will need when it's time for your first mission," the Emperor intoned as he entering the training facility.

Everyone came to attention upon the Emperor's arrival, with Masako doing the same. After a moment's hesitation, she asked, "I'm honored, My Lord, but I thought you said someone who wielded the soul sword could already do incredible feats."

"They can," the Emperor confirmed, "but Masahiro over time allowed that power make him complacent with his training. He became reliant on the speed and mobility the sword granted him along with the overwhelming power to simply smash through his opponents. That worked fine for most battles, but in that last confrontation, he was facing a highly experienced and expert opponent who was able to overcome those advantages." He placed his hand on Masako's shoulder to emphasize his point. "That's a lesson that you must take to heart. Even with all your advantages, you must never underestimate your enemy. Even I... with an Empire, must always be on my guard, lest one day, someone comes to strike me down. Which is why, I've assigned you a most important task. Consider it a way to finally avenging the one who killed you, once and for all..."

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"...kill her!" the soldier shouted.

Akiko ducked as arrows flew past her head, just as she closed distance to the men standing closest to the Empire wagons. Keep close to the soldiers, she thought, so their remaining archers can't take shots at you without risking their own men. Their insurgent force had grown in the past month, and they had begun hitting supply routes closer to the Empire's inner baronies. They were taking a risk as they would be in range of the Empire's mystic scryers but at this point, they were past the point of hiding.

The men in front tried to attack in unison to overwhelm her, which wasn't a bad tactic, Akiko thought, if she was attacking this caravan alone, which would have been folly. Fortunately, her group had engaged all around, creating blockade on both sides, preventing their mobile forces from being able to maneuver, pinning them in an unfavorable position, making them easy targets for their archers, leaving the remaining for Akiko and her support fighters to engage the remaining ground forces. In addition, they had the advantage of a few minor illusionary tricks to provide false targets for the Empire soldiers to engage, which pulled them out of position and easy targets for the real assaults. Keiko's getting better at her craft, Akiko noticed. She still hadn't mastered offensive magics, but deception and defense seemed to come natural to her.

With rest of the escort defeated or slain, the rebel force took to the five Empire wagons. The first thing they noticed was these were larger and better built than the supply trains they had been hitting so far. Perhaps these were treasury transports, several of the officers thought, with more than a little greed among them. Crass though it might have seemed, revolutions cost money, and while looting chests of gold might have felt like highway robbery, the leaders of the movement knew this was a necessary evil.

"Hey, these last boxes don't seem to want to open," one of the soldiers reported.

The leaders converged and noticed the last few chests were fancier than the rest with locks encrusted with crystals and gold. Keiko motioned everyone else to pull back before focusing her attention on the box, facing her palm at the gems as a subtle glow emanated before the lock released. Opening the box, she was the first to see the contents. "Wow, we hit jackpot on this one," she observed as she pulled out a handful of crystals and carefully looked at the first few. "These have enchantment potential, but the fractals haven't been synched, meaning they haven't been magically aligned."

"With that many crystals, what are we talking about? Maybe a magical school? Enough to hand out crystals for a whole class of students?" Akiko asked.

Jun and Hiroshige both frowned, "Having this many magical focusing crystals is more than a coincidence. The Empire wouldn't have risked transporting something this valuable unless it had a purpose," Jun explained. "Neither I nor Hiroshige though are practiced in the magical arts beyond the very basic levels though," before glancing at Keiko.

"D-don't look at me!" Keiko stuttered. "I'm still learning on the job! Half of what I'm doing is what Lady Amberbrooke called spontaneous focusing, which is fancy way of saying I'm making it up as I go! I've been trying to pick up the theory by going over some of her books she left behind but honestly, that'll probably take years before I'm any kind of knowledgeable source. You're better off checking with Lady Hiromi at this point."

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Governor Morio Doi swallowed fearfully as the council of judges reconvened before their assigned positions before the high court. He and his immediate officers had been summoned a few days ago to answer for the apparent losses of supplies and soldiers that were beginning to show on the Empire's military reports.

"Governor Doi, the records have confirmed the losses of the Empire's precious resources and loyal soldiers throughout your territories have been ongoing for nearly a month. Despite this, it was only a surprise audit that uncovered these losses, and not the required notifications," the head arbitrator ominously declared.

"Your Honors, it was my full intentions to report these losses!" Doi stuttered. "In fact, I had already mustered forces throughout my regions to ensure the highwaymen would have been captured when your forces arr..."

"Your efforts and attempts at deflection are for naught!" the arbitrator cut Doi off. "An occasional failure, the Empire can overlook, but stupidity is inexcusable! Had you reported these attacks when they first started, the Empire would have been able coordinate a response far sooner before this insurrection movement had taken root! Because of your laxness, you've allowed what should been a minor annoyance to grow into a movement, which now will have to be dealt with! Fortunately, that will no longer be your problem! Take him away!"

The Governor howled in protest as the guards dragged him away while the judgement was handed down and passed to the rest of the official body of government. Elsewhere in the main citadel, the seers in the temple all convened to discuss the update they had just received.

"So, the prophecy inches ever closer... the pieces are slowly coming into place," the lead seer declared. "If this rebellion is not challenged soon, we may all be facing our doom."

"There is another possibility," another seer offered. "There is also a prophecy that a pivotal event could still determine the outcome of this conflict; that a key battle that was once fought in the past will be destined to be fought once again."

"You speak of matters that need approval before we can proceed," the lead seer warned, then paused. "However, that may be our best option at this point... The matter will be brought before his Lord to decide."

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The Emperor took a moment to consider the news as all his advisors presented their options and latest updates. "So... destiny has arrived as we have foreseen. The battle that was fought years ago will be fought again."

"They will fight... and one will die..." the lead seer declared. "However, unlike last time, which one wins is still unclear. We can work to ensure one outcome over another." He paused. "Isn't this what you have been training Lady Masako for... to fulfill the prophecy? To avenge her own death and ensure the Kingdom's survival?"

The Emperor paused, then nodded, "Indeed... and yes, she is as prepared as she can be. Her skills are complete, and with the power of the soul sword now fully bounded, she'll be more than a match for the prophesized battle to come."